Overall 7 Graphics 7 Sound 6 Addictive 5 Story 4 Depth 4 Difficulty 8
5.7
Incredible Crash Test Dummies G789
The Incredible Crash Dummies came out on SNES in 1993, published by LJN. This game was also made for some other systems, including Sega Genesis. This game is a platformer, where the player assumes the role of a crash dummy who must reach the goal while battling through different enemies. Enemies can be destroyed by jumping on them, or by throwing a wrenches. Between each level there is an interlude bonus stage, as well some dialogue in the form of comic strips. The comics do little to advance the story or what's left of one. The game is meant to be played in a single playthrough as there are no saves/password systems in place. This is, in fact, a difficult game, but not in a sense that I would call it challenging, or necessarily rewarding.
Graphics: 7Nothing particularly advanced, or lackluster for that matter, specifically in terms of graphics. It's so-so if anything with decent background. The levels illustrate what terrain the player can traverse, and anything that moves or has additional animation associated with it is either very clearly an enemy or a power up. Perhaps the only thing of note is that when bosses are destroyed, there's just some small explosions and the image of the enemy suddenly disappears. This doesn't detract from the gameplay, which will be covered in a moment.
Sound: 6Again, nothing really stands out here. There are 4 areas which feature several levels within them. Each area has its own theme, then there's the boss theme that plays during the respective battles. There are some varied sound effects for enemy attacks and such. However, I felt that the sound became pretty repetitive, especially the music played throughout the levels.
Addictiveness: 5Crash Dummies is not a game typically described as addictive. At no point did I find myself saying, "I can't wait to get back to playing the game." Perhaps this game may feel refreshing to some picking it up after having not played for a while. The fact that the game is meant for one playthrough suggests it was never really intentioned to be addictive, at the least.
Story: 4There is a story? Yes, the featured story presents itself as comic strips.
Going into the plot now: Dr. Zub and two of the crash test dummies discuss that their nemesis, Junkman (no relation to Mega Man 7), must be stopped before he figures out the secret of his high tech body, and (presumably?) takes over the world. Conveniently, said villain crashes in and abducts the Doctor. The two crash dummies exchange some puns (e.g. "all in pieces"), and the game begins.
Between each level are some interludes of additional comics featuring the two dummies who get into random antics, which I guess are meant to teach children basic life lessons like looking both ways when crossing the street. These scenes in no way advance the plot or allude to the greater story as a whole, but are meant for fun and giggles. The ending is pretty basic, short, and predictable although there really isn't any climactic build-up. This platformer game focuses more on its gameplay than any semblance of a story.
My apologies for not putting a bigger 'spoiler' warning, as the heart of the game's story is illustrated in the very beginning before any gameplay takes over.
Depth: 4I feel that this attribute was not one of the game's primary goals, as it's one of the shorter games. Each playthrough is the same as levels are done sequentially (no optional goals, warps, etc.). The most depth that can be spoken of involve some of the larger levels where small branching paths offer somewhat varied options for completion. However, one of my complaints is the time factor. Levels must be completed within a set time limit; there are certain powerups scattered that give 10s. Yet, even with these it feels like the creators allotted just enough time for a level to be completed, and this assumes the player takes all of the correct/shortest paths in the longer levels. This impairs any incentive for exploration because you will almost certainly run out of time in doing so. One thing I found pretty cool was that instead of a life bar, health was directly portrayed by the state of the crash dummy. Each hit makes you lose a limb (each leg, then each arm). Once you're down to just a head and body, another hit kills you. I found this to be creative. Luckily, there are powerups that restore a piece of health (or a limb). There are other powerups that give you points, which are really pointless.
Difficulty: 8Admittedly, I died many, many times in completing this game. It's safe to say that this is a difficult game. What I would like to point out here is the nature of that difficulty. Many of the game's enemies charge at you from offscreen; by the time they appear, it's often too late to react. The only real way to get through these obstacles is to keep playing so that you memorize all of these obstacles. In other words, the player is punished unfairly simply for not knowing what's ahead already.
Another criticism involves weapon usage. The crash dummy can throw wrenches at the enemy, these are limited and can be collected throughout each level. My criticism involves the way the wrench attacks are carried out. In the first area, wrenches are thrown straight: I have no issue with this. Suddenly, in the second area, wrenches take a weird trajectory, and then travel straight. The trajectory of the wrench attacks continue to change throughout each area seemingly out of nowhere. This also increases difficulty as the wrench weapons being to become less reliable.
Other things of note: time (mentioned in depth section), and jumping. The jumping mechanics are basic, just a single jump. Yet for some reason, in the levels that require more precise platforming, the jumping controls are revealed to be awkward and making it onto moving platforms becomes more difficult than the rest of the enemies.
However, by far, the biggest source of difficulty comes in the unforgiving continue system (or lack thereof). Players start with 3 lives, some levels have an extra life though they're rare (or I didn't have time to explore them). Once you lose all lives, it's immediate game over and the player starts from the beginning of the game! That was probably the most frustrating aspect of this game.
Overall: 5.7In the end, The Incredible Crash Dummies squandered on its potential as a platformer game due to its unfair difficulty. With little else standing out to pad its flaws, the game wasn't as fun overall as it could of been. Sadly, this is consistent with many other LJN games of this period. As nothing else is particularly memorable, I cannot say I would recommend this game. If you're looking for any one of the following: solid gameplay, decent story, memorable soundtrack, then look somewhere else.
If you're looking for a creative way to track the player's health (number of remaining limbs), and relatively unfair difficulty, tread lightly!
Graphics 7 Sound 6 Addictive 5 Story 4 Depth 4 Difficulty 8
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 04-17-15
Updated: 04-17-15
Review Replies: 4
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